Piraeus Lion: the caged beast of the temple dungeon
the great lion loosed upon Kratos in Sparta
The Piraeus Lion was a gigantic lion held beneath the Temple of Ares in Sparta. Released by a dissenter fleeing Kratos, the arrow-scarred beast turned its claws and stunning roar against the Spartan before it was gutted and slain.
The Piraeus Lion was a gigantic lion held in a dungeon beneath the Temple of Ares in Sparta. When a dissenter loyal to Ares fled from Kratos and pulled a lever, the beast was loosed into a sealed arena, and it turned its claws and a stunning roar upon the Spartan before he brought it down. (God of War: Ghost of Sparta)
The beast beneath the temple#
Shortly after arriving in Sparta, Kratos took a secret path toward the Temple of Ares that led him through a dungeon. There he accidentally released a dissenter still loyal to Ares, and gave chase. Searching through the jail, Kratos finally cornered the loyalist in a circular open chamber, where the man was straining at a stuck lever. Before Kratos could seize him, the dissenter wrenched the lever free, sealing the door behind himself, locking Kratos in the arena, and releasing the Piraeus Lion. (God of War: Ghost of Sparta)
The creature was a huge lion, its mane stuck through with arrows, most likely the remnants of an earlier confrontation with the Spartans. It struck at Kratos with its great claws and let out a roar of such intensity that it stunned him, forcing him to cover his ears as his vision blurred and leaving him an easy target until he could recover. (God of War: Ghost of Sparta)
The kill#
The lion was a swift and evasive foe. It leapt away from many of Kratos's attacks and counterstruck after doing so, and it could spring upon him to pin him to the ground with a paw and bite at him until he broke free, kicking it in the face to drive it back. Most of its attacks could not be turned aside, and evasion was the surest answer. (God of War: Ghost of Sparta)
In the end Kratos pulled himself onto the lion's neck and stabbed it there, making it roar in pain, then slid down its body and gutted it, killing the beast. With the lion dead, the door to the fleeing dissenter opened, and Kratos resumed the pursuit, killing the loyalist soon after. (God of War: Ghost of Sparta)
Frequently asked questions
- What was the Piraeus Lion in God of War?
- The Piraeus Lion was a gigantic lion kept in a dungeon beneath the Temple of Ares in Sparta. When a dissenter loyal to Ares fled from Kratos and pulled a lever, the lever sealed Kratos in an arena and released the beast against him.
- How did Kratos kill the Piraeus Lion?
- After enduring the lion's claws and its stunning roar, Kratos pulled himself onto the beast's neck, stabbed it, and slid down its body, gutting it and killing it. With the lion dead, the way to the fleeing dissenter opened, and Kratos soon caught and slew him.
Sources
- GameGod of War: Ghost of Sparta, Ready at Dawn, 2010
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Followed from this entry
Ares: the god who made Kratos a killer
Ares tricked Kratos into slaughtering his own wife and daughter to bind him as a weapon. Kratos killed him at Athens and took his place as God of War.
Kratos
Kratos was the demigod son of Zeus who rose from a Spartan general to the Greek God of War, destroyed the pantheon of Olympus in a quest for vengeance, and then began again in the Norse realms as a father seeking to leave his bloody past behind.
Sparta: Kratos' city, razed by Zeus
Sparta raised Kratos, worshipped Ares, then took Kratos himself as its patron god. Zeus destroyed the city in revenge for the Spartan's defiance.
Spartans
The Spartans were the warrior people of the city of Sparta, a hardened army whose ruthless discipline made them feared across Greece. Under Kratos, their greatest general, they conquered city after city, and they remained loyal to him long after he rose to become the God of War.
Also in Greek Era
Cerberus Mongrel: the lesser hounds of the Underworld
The Cerberus Mongrels were the weakest breed of the Cerberi, gaunt three-headed hounds that served the lord of the dead. Kratos beat them into submission across two eras of his life, riding them as living weapons and turning the fire of one upon Peirithous to claim the Bow of Apollo.
Hoplite: the undead soldiery of the dead lands
The Hoplites were undead soldiers of the Greek world, skeletal corpses clad in the armor of Greece that fought with twin swords. Kratos cut through their ranks in Asphodel, in the depths of Tartarus, and even in the Elysium Fields, where their stronger breeds bore shields of bronze and iron.
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